Well, I've decided which arcs to use for this story. Just have a few more things to put in place ;)

Also, one quick question: Should Ulquiorra die in this story, or would you guys prefer to have him live? Please review or PM me your answer.

Chapter 12: Kurosaki Ichigo

The next morning, Saki sat at her table, quietly doing the paperwork as time ticked away. The rest of the barracks were pretty quiet, with the exception of the occasional sound of footsteps walking past her door. Hanako was currently projecting images of what she and Amina were doing (yes, Hanako is capable of doing that), which were somewhat similar to what Saki was currently doing. Amina was shuffling through her paperwork while chatting with Hisagi, and Hanako was exploring every corner of her office.

The Third Squad's new captain glanced at the clock, which said 10:28. She looked at the pile of paperwork that was still on her desk, contemplating. Then, she pushed herself away from the desk. She draped her captain's haori over her shoulders without putting her arms through the sleeves and left, shutting the door behind her.

On her way out of the barracks, many of her squad members bowed and greeted her, to which she replied with a small wave of her hand and a 'good morning.' Once outside, Saki used Shunpo to arrive at the barracks of the Fifth Squad. The members there also bowed to her in greeting, which she responded to with a nod. She walked briskly to the captain's office and leaned against the doorway. Her little sister, Hanako, was poking around in the drawers of her desk, not noticing her visitor.

"Hanako."

The blonde jumped and spun around. "Saki-chan!" she gasped, "You scared me."

"Sorry. I thought you knew I was there."

"Y-Yeah. I should have stayed alert," Hanako laughed sheepishly, "Do you want some sushi? It's your favorite food, isn't it?" She held out a small box of the delicious cuisine to the black-haired girl. Saki raised an eyebrow.

"Where did you get this?" she asked as she took the food from her sister.

"A member of my squad dropped off two boxes this morning," Hanako explained, "I thought that I should save one box for you since you've always loved sushi."

"I see. Thank you." Saki placed a sushi into her mouth, chewing carefully and allowing the flavors of the rice, seaweed, crab meat, and cucumber to spread across her tongue.

"This is not fair! Why wasn't I invited to this family gathering?" Amina suddenly appeared with an elegant swish of her captain's haori.

"You shouldn't need an invitation to come to a 'family gathering'," Saki pointed out, half-finished with her sushi.

The middle child of the Kuroichi family chuckled. "Okay, you got me there. But anyway, I wanted to ask if you two wanted to explore Seireitei today."

Hanako shook her head regretfully. "Sorry, Amina-chan, but I have to get a start on the paperwork since Hinamori's still in the Healing Bay."

Amina turned her hopeful gaze to Saki, who sighed and said, "I will go with you only because you will start complaining if I don't."

"Yay!" Amina cheered, "We can go to the bars and have a few drinks and...!"

"Forget it," Saki said quickly. She did NOT need to deal with a drunk Amina at any time in the future. The brown-haired girl tended to get very...destructive when wasted. It was a good thing that she hadn't gotten intoxicated during the captain's initiation, considering the fact that she was sitting next to Kyouraku.

"No! I was just kidding!"

"We haven't gone this way yet!" Amina said, pointing to a path that she and Saki hadn't walked yet.

Without a word, Saki began to head in that direction with Amina on her heels. After some time of walking, the pair arrived at a huge set of doors. There were two guards, one on each side of the door. They stood at attention as the two captains approached.

"Is this the Senkaimon?" Saki asked one of them.

"Yes, Captain Kuroichi," the guard replied.

"These doors are impressive!" Amina admired, stepping back to get a better look. In doing so, she bumped into someone. "Wha...?" she jumped and turned around, eyes wide with surprise. "Kyouraku-taicho! Ukitake-taicho!"

"Just Kyouraku and Ukitake are fine, Amina-chan," Kyouraku reassured, "Or even better: Shunsui and Jushiro."

"Hey, Saki-san," Ukitake called, "How're things going with you?"

"Same as always," Saki replied, "And you, Ukitake-san?"

"He's better than usual, at least," Kyouraku answered for his best friend, "What are you two doing here?"

"Exploring," Amina replied with a shrug, "Is this the only Senkaimon in Seireitei?"

"No," Ukitake said, "There are some noble families who have their own private Senkaimon, although this one is used by all of the Shinigami in Seireitei."

The conversation halted as a new set of voices made themselves heard. Four heads turned to see a group of three guys, two girls, and a cat make their way towards the Senkaimon. One of the guys, a tall teenager with orange hair, seemed to be arguing with a much shorter girl, Kuchiki Rukia.

Amina nudged Saki. "Do you think the guy with the orange hair is the one that Hanako saw in her vision?" she whispered.

"Most likely," Saki agreed. The topic of their short conversation stopped arguing with Rukia once he caught sight of the two female captains.

"You two are new captains for the Third and Ninth Divisions, right?" he asked.

"That's right," Saki answered, hands tucked indifferently into the pockets of her Shinigami clothes.

"I'm Kurosaki Ichigo. Nice to meet you." He stuck out his hand, which Saki took after a brief moment's hesitation.

"Kuroichi Saki. The pleasure is all mine," she replied coolly, sticking her hand back into her pocket. Amina gave Ichigo a hard stare, making the latter slightly uncomfortable.

"What?" he asked a little belligerently.

"You look nothing like a strawberry," Amina commented in response. Ichigo immediately turned an angry red color. "Now that's more like it," Amina laughed, "Just dye your hair green and it'll be perfect!"

"Shut up!" he yelled, "My name means 'the one who protects', not 'strawberry'!"

"The fifteen-year-old strawberry of protection," Saki put in quietly and with a completely straight face. Amina, Rukia, and Kyouraku howled with laughter while Ukitake chuckled softly. Even Ichigo's friends had looks of amusement on their faces.

"I hate you all," Ichigo grumbled. Once everyone had calmed down, the rest of Ichigo's group introduced themselves, telling Saki and Amina that they were getting ready to head back to the World of the Living. More captains began to arrive as the doors of the Senkaimon opened, and Ukitake quickly handed something to Ichigo before the ryoka boy entered the Dangai.

"He's the one that pretty much saved Soul Society from ruin, isn't he?" Amina asked Saki, only to find out that the black-haired girl was no longer present. She looked around, searching for the elder, but didn't see any sign of Saki anywhere nearby. She scowled.

"Did she seriously abandon me?"

Kuroichi Hanako's Battle Data
Offense: 80
Defense: 100
Intelligence: 80
Kido/Reiatsu: 90
Physical Strength: 50
Mobility: 90
Total: 490/600